LOL I hope you told them “Dude you ARE competing with those companies for my skills, so are you in or not?” It’s really that simple.
At one interview I wasn’t really sure about my answer to a question, so after giving it I asked how they would do it, and the guy who asked said, “Well, I’m not the one being interviewed.” I kept my mouth shut because I really liked everybody else I had talked to, but I wanted to go all Jules on the guy like, “Oh yes you are, Brett, yes you are!” Some employers don’t get that an applicant is also interviewing them (at least I always was).
I did say, in a nice way, that “they are your competitors either way”.
And yeah, companies treating interviews as a one-way evaluation is a red flag.
There was this book that was hype around 2010, called “Are you smart enough to work at Google?”. It was full of interview questions and brainteasers that I strongly suspected I’d find interesting, but I couldn’t get over the title. I wanted to scream “Fuck you, book! Is Google smart enough to hire ME?!”
We are, as a profession, systematically manipulated via these interview processes to feel stupid and inferior to drive down wages. I’d rather come off as slightly too arrogant now and then, rather than submit to that.
Real conversation, not exaggerated. Actually slightly toned down:
“We offer a competitive salary! It’s $number!”
“I have 2 offers 10% higher, from a shipping company and a finance company, in the same city”
“We don’t compete with the finance and shipping sectors”
“And 15% higher in one of the consultancies”
“We don’t compete with consultancies either”
(I think I’m going to put Reigninh Monarch of Norway on my CV. I just don’t compete with King Harald.)
LOL I hope you told them “Dude you ARE competing with those companies for my skills, so are you in or not?” It’s really that simple.
At one interview I wasn’t really sure about my answer to a question, so after giving it I asked how they would do it, and the guy who asked said, “Well, I’m not the one being interviewed.” I kept my mouth shut because I really liked everybody else I had talked to, but I wanted to go all Jules on the guy like, “Oh yes you are, Brett, yes you are!” Some employers don’t get that an applicant is also interviewing them (at least I always was).
Haha, that’s the attitude :)
I did say, in a nice way, that “they are your competitors either way”.
And yeah, companies treating interviews as a one-way evaluation is a red flag.
There was this book that was hype around 2010, called “Are you smart enough to work at Google?”. It was full of interview questions and brainteasers that I strongly suspected I’d find interesting, but I couldn’t get over the title. I wanted to scream “Fuck you, book! Is Google smart enough to hire ME?!”
We are, as a profession, systematically manipulated via these interview processes to feel stupid and inferior to drive down wages. I’d rather come off as slightly too arrogant now and then, rather than submit to that.